The meeting was part of the ten-day working agenda of a delegation of Ho Chi Minh City officials, headed by Party chief Dinh La Thang, in Japan to boost ties and seek cooperation opportunities for the southern Vietnamese metropolis and Japanese cities and businesses.

 

At the meeting, a group of Japanese investors – Daiwa Housing, Mitsubishi, Fujita Engineering, and Oriental Consulting Group – showed particular interest in the city’s canal renovation project.

 

The project, despite its small investment, is vital to the livelihood of citizens living along the polluted canal, and is among the seven breakthrough programs outlined by the municipal Party Committee in 2015, Thang said.

 

The Xuyen Tam Canal, which snakes eight kilometers through Binh Thanh and Go Vap Districts, measures between 17 and 42 meters in width.

 

The canal is the destination of about 40 percent of household sewage in Binh Thanh District, receiving around 40,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater on a daily basis.